Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is an ambitious undertaking, one wherein the Public Investment Fund (PIF) plays a vital part. As the country’s investment arm, PIF is in a unique position to shape the future of the Saudi economy—and beyond. At the helm is Ahmed Bin Shuail, Head of the Strategy and Planning Department at PIF.

A seasoned strategy management and business transformation leader with a successful delivery record of corporate strategies and business transformation initiatives, Ahmed has extensive experience in strategy management, business planning, corporate performance, and investments. As PIF looks to build strategic alliances and partnerships with several noteworthy international institutions and organizations, the organization’s maturity will play a vital role in ensuring these partnerships bear fruit.

How do you perceive the current maturity of your industry regarding strategy and performance management practices in organizations? In which areas do you see significant room for improvement?

With Vision 2030 programs, there has been an increasing need to have well-structured strategy and performance management practices. PIF’s corporate strategy is currently attuned to leading strategic practices and to leveraging top-tier expertise. This optimized level of maturity enhances PIF's internal strategic effectiveness and contributes to influencing PIF’s ecosystem. However, at PIF we are driven by continuous improvement in our strategy and performance practices to maintain excellence.

What are the secret ingredients that differentiate an effective strategy planning process from a redundant one?

There are many ingredients that contribute to an effective strategy planning process. These main ingredients include: top management involvement, consistent stakeholder engagement, continuous enhancements to strategic planning and performance processes and frameworks, leveraging innovation, automation of all strategy processes and utilizing the data for more strategic insights, adherence to corporate priorities, and finally a clear and dynamic planning process.

Why does strategy fail so often in organizations? Could you share some lessons learned from your organization/experience?

Strategy fails in some organizations due to lack of ownership, lack of internal alignment and lack of clarity on strategic direction.

At PIF, we are always seeking ways to enhance current practices. We have open communication for feedback. For example, we distributed a survey to colleagues which revealed challenges in strategy awareness with the potential to impact our strategic excellence score. In response, we implemented initiatives to address these gaps and improve our approach.

What role does performance management play in managing an organization nowadays?

Performance management is the essential practice that acts as the compass for strategy direction and execution. It contributes to a performance-driven culture and ensures proper cascading of strategy and implementation through effective monitoring of progress, which allows organizations to assess whether their progress towards targets is on track or needs attention in order to intervene and act proactively.

How can business leaders make better decisions when confronted with so much data and information?

Business leaders can make informed decisions despite being confronted by overwhelming data by prioritizing key elements and providing the right information at the right time through the right channels. In addition, leaders can make better decisions with abundant data through utilizing advanced analytics and visualization tools, focusing on key performance indicators, fostering a data-driven culture, and consulting with data experts to interpret complex information.

What practices can senior leadership adopt to develop a culture of performance excellence in organizations?

Leadership must first adopt a proactive mindset. Meaning that they should shift their focus to proactive interventions and preventive analyses to ensure performance excellence. In addition, it is also essential to encourage continuous improvement, recognize and reward achievements, and provide necessary resources and support to colleagues. Finally, leading by example, encouraging open communication and establishing clear performance metrics will align goals, monitor progress and enhance overall performance across the organization.

Where should organizations focus more of their attention to achieve performance excellence? Is it in optimizing the performance management system (doing things right at the framework level) or the business results (performance outcomes generated by different processes)?

Optimizing the performance management system and continuously updating frameworks to drive performance outcomes across processes is essential for ensuring the sustainability of performance excellence for any organization. In addition, leveraging technology is essential, as it has become a key success factor to optimize performance, increase efficiency and improve productivity. Having capable people and the resources to implement plans and leverage technology is what makes the difference.

What triggered your decision to undertake the Strategy and Performance Management Maturity Assessment?

At PIF, we act as a benchmark in the way we do business: We lead by example. Therefore, the assessment was driven by the need to evaluate PIF's current performance and explore areas for improvement. This assessment also allows us to reflect on our progress, and provide top management with a clear, objective view of our performance practices, ensuring they meet industry standards and support PIF's strategic objectives effectively.

How did you find the assessment process?

The assessment was thorough and comprehensive, as it examined and evaluated our strategy execution practices across three pillars: strategy planning, performance measurement and performance improvement.

How did the Strategy and Performance Management Maturity Assessment contribute to the progress of the organization?

It provided an excellent baseline for our current practices and outputs, and allowed us to understand our current position in terms of strategy planning, performance measurement, performance Improvement, and the areas of enhancements we need to focus on. In addition, the assessment will help us achieve a performance-driven culture and will act as a structure for cascading our practices all the way through to the individual level.

For more useful insights on Performance Management and Maturity Assessments click here:

https://kpiinstitute.org/Performance-Magazine-Issue-31-Business-Excellence-Edition.pdf